Lake St. Clair Wind Turbines
Canadian Wind Turbins in Lake St. Clair

Tim Bledsoe is hosting a community forum on Canadian plans to place 160 wind turbines in their waters of Lake St. Clair on Monday, May 3. The forum will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, 32 Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms.

Confirmed speakers include:

Eric Sharp, Outdoor Writer for the Detroit Free Press Nick Schroeck, Wayne State University Law Professor and Environmental Law Center Director A representative from the Michigan Environmental Council A wind energy expert from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth A representative from the Canadian Consulate A representative from Southpoint Wind, the company responsible for building the wind turbines. I hope you will join me for this important community forum as we discuss the impact these wind turbines will have on Lake St. Clair and our community.

Outdoor Writer for the Detroit Free Press Wayne State University Law Professor and Environmental Law Center Director A representative from the Michigan Environmental A wind energy expert from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic GrowthA representative from the Canadian ConsulateA representative from Southpoint Wind, the company responsible for building the wind turbines.

its funny. the group has not even applied to the can. goverment for permits as of yet. its crown land owned by the goverment. theres a mention on the bass haven website. looks like big business corporate greed to the folks here. they do NOT want windmills in the water.

I, AND MANY OTHER CANADIAN LAKE USERS ARE OPPOSED TO ANY LAKE BASED WIND TURBINES ANYWHERE IN THE GREAT LAKES. The Ontario Government has recrafted the law, to allow for any "green' energy project to go forward without due dilegence or enviromental study. This fight had already been won once, so they changed the law to suit the purpose. Be prepared to have this rammed in to you. This will affect you too. Please take an active stand in opposing this .Check out the link below, this group has really done great job.http://www.lakeeriewindturbines.com/

For those who missed it: Summary of Community Forum About the Canadian Proposal to Place Wind Turbines on Lake St. Clair

Attendance was exceptional at the public forum I held this past Monday, May 3. The subject of the forum was the potential construction of a wind farm in Lake St. Clair, proposed to the government of Ontario by the Canadian company SouthPoint Wind. Speakers at the forum were John Sarver from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth (DELEG); James Clift, Policy Director of the Michigan Environmental Council; and Nick Shroeck, an environmental law expert from Wayne State University.

Representatives from the government of Ontario and representatives of SouthPoint were invited, but declined to attend, resulting in certain details regarding the project remaining unknown. In spite of their absence, about 200 residents from both sides of the border were in attendance, and the forum successfully provided information about the various aspects and implications of the proposed project.

The government of Ontario has placed a moratorium on proposals to build wind farms on public land until a proper mechanism for considering proposals has been devised, so the exact status of SouthPoint's proposal and the likelihood that the project will be approved are as yet unknown. That being said, the three speakers conveyed all the known information regarding the potential project.

The plan proposes three wind farms to be built on Lake St. Clair, situated approximately one mile from the Canadian shore and between five and six miles from Michigan's shore. Each of the three farms would consist of 55 turbines, totaling 165 turbines in Lake St. Clair. SouthPoint's intention is to begin construction of the farms in 2012 and to have them completed in 2014. However, given Ontario's moratorium, all three experts expressed doubt that such an early start date is feasible.

The general desirability of renewable sources of energy, including energy produced by wind farms, was stated and repeated throughout the evening. However, the Great Lakes Off-Shore Wind Council, of which panelist James Clift is a member and which is charged with designating the best areas in Michigan to potentially locate wind farms, had never considered Lake St. Clair a sensible location, owing to its size and intensive recreational use. Although all three speakers support the idea of building wind farms in the Great Lakes, none were convinced that Lake St. Clair is an appropriate site.

There are questions as to whether the environmental impact of the project might constitute a violation of the Migratory Bird Act or the Water Quality Agreement, to which both the United States and Canada are party. Disinclination to support the project is compounded by the unlikelihood of any of the manufacturing or construction being done by Michigan companies, and the fact that little, if any, of the power generated by the farms would be purchased in Michigan.

Furthermore, boaters are concerned about safety risks of having such large objects in the water, and of the 'dead air' that the turbines would cause, restricting their ability to sail. On the other hand, the proposed project, along with other projects inspired by Ontario's Green Energy Act, are evidence of proactive steps to diminish oil and coal dependency.

The avenues available to residents of Grosse Pointe to support or impede the proposed project are limited by the fact that United States citizens do not have standing in Canadian courts. Acting through our elected and appointed officials seems to be the surest way to exercise our influence.

It should be made clear that these are only preliminary discussions regarding a potential project, and that there is ample time to gather facts and determine how best to cope with the situation. This forum was intended to keep the public educated and involved with the discussion from the beginning, and it was a great success on that account.

I am currently working to collect original source documents about this project, and will be posting them to my legislative website in the near future.